Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! Chapter 42: 42-Let’s Get Started With The Physical Assessment

Read chapter 42 of Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! by A_Random_Turtle on NovelPedia.

The White Room, as it was called by the Academy, was a space large enough to accommodate at least four hundred individuals—if not more—possessing pristine white walls with blue, glowing lines intertwining all over its surface. To its centre was a slightly raised platform, bathed by an ethereal blue light shining down from an orb up above. And around it were rows of seats in rising tiers, like those found in a stadium, occupied by the first years here for their physical assessment. Merlin had frozen in his steps when he had walked into the room, but he was well past his amazement now that he was seated. After all, how could he concentrate on the beauty of the scenery surrounding him when a certain person kept grumbling. “I’ll be honest,” Hakyun went on. “Making us wake up by six in the morning is utter bullshit.” He yawned, then pulled at the latex combat suit of red on his body. “I’d do anything to be in my pajamas again.” So much for diligence… Merlin looked down at his own body. Just like Hakyun—and the rest of the first years—he too wore a red combat suit that clung to his skin as though it was part of him. It was one of the uniform sets they had received from the Academy after they had been granted admission. The last was a tracksuit, but they wouldn’t be needing that at this moment. And, as they had been advised, every student present had the emblem of their Cohort attached to their sleeves. “Aaand they dare waste our time?” Hakyun forced words as he yawned again. “Be careful, four-eyes, they may be listening,” Chima warned, forcing himself to stay awake. Hakyun clicked his tongue. “Like I care. I acknowledge diligence, not this… It’s past six already.” Merlin stopped listening to Hakyun now. He had quickly learnt that the best way to prevent his ears from exploding from the boy’s grumbles was by simply diverting his attention; so he made use of the moment to throw his eyes around, searching for Nora. They’d had a brief chat last night, but it was mostly banter on how they were on different Cohorts and were now rivals. Unlike him, she was a student of Cohort Dragon Eye, her instructor the cold-eyed Dmitri Volkov. It was the one Cohort Merlin had not wanted to end up in, and, of course, he had teased her about it. But Nora was not bothered. She’d said she was just here to graduate, and it didn’t matter what an instructor thought of her. Maybe she had forgotten that those instructors were the ones who gave out points. Well, if the Cohort she was in didn’t bother her, he had been sure that the fact that only one of them would be getting the reward of the Academy sponsored trip at the end of the year would. Alas, she had been indifferent towards that as well. Merlin suspected that it was all just a ruse. He couldn’t see her expression as they chatted, after all. The unexpected and funniest occurrence that had been brought up during their conversation, though, was Nora revealing that she’d ended up being roommates with the girl she had pushed aside after the orientation had ended. Merlin had been so surprised he’d screamed out loud, inciting Hakyun to roar at him from his room. He really wondered how they would cope with each other, because they had already gotten off to a bad start. Merlin was sure Nora did not give a hoot, he was concerned about the other girl. “Argh!! I’m bored! If only I had my phone with me!” Hakyun pulled at his hair. This was the most frustrated Merlin had seen the boy yet. And since his attempt at finding his sister bore no fruit, he returned his attention to his roommates. “What would you do with your phone?” Chima asked, though not exactly seeking an answer. Because he continued, “We’re here for a physical assessment; it’ll only get in the way. That’s why we were told not to bring it.” Hakyun snorted, turned to Merlin, and jerked a thumb at Chima. “Does this guy not know that there’s something called comics?” Merlin had already guessed that Hakyun was a bigger geek than he was, because even he could